The steps that need to take place as the Pennsylvania Forest Heritage Association (PFHA) is merged into the Pennsylvania Forestry Association are going well. PFA is in the process of adding all PFHA members to its membership database. The PFHA Website, Facebook page, and E-Newsletter are also in the process of being phased out and incorporated into PFA‘s communications activities. It is expected that a PFA Forest Heritage Committee consisting of Chair Peter Linehan, and members John Bitzer, Jack Graham, Mike Klimkos, Wayne Kober, and Roy Siefert will be appointed at the December 2019 PFA Board Meeting. This Committee will report to the PFA Board and will make recommendations on future PFA forest heritage activities including the management and operations of the Forest Heritage Discovery Center at the Caledonia State Park.

PFA is delighted to be in a partnership with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, and others, in the Pennsylvania Conservation Heritage Project that features the development of a digital Forest Legacy Trail map that tells the story of Pennsylvania’s forests in nation building, conservation, recreation and forest legacy. The digital map presentation is still in draft stage. Please check it out at  https://arcg.is/1eenDi. And please let us know if there is some prominent forest legacy site or feature that is missing! It is expected this that this project will be completed in 2019.

Over the past year PFA has consolidated a group of dedicated funds into one PFA Memorial Forestry Education Fund. Past PFA member Lloyd Casey and past PFA President Bob Rumpf are the co-founders of this Fund. Since the establishment of the consolidated fund another PFA member who prefers to remain anonymous has made a substantial contribution to the fund. The PFA executive committee recently voted to transfer the surplus from the 2018 PFA Conservation Banquet to the Memorial Forestry Education Fund. All of this means that we now have a significant fund balance to finance future forestry education projects in Pennsylvania. The PFA Memorial Forestry Education Fund Committee will soon be soliciting applications for 2019 forestry education project funding.

At the time of the writing of this PFA Update, China had imposed a 10% tariff on all US hardwood lumber products in retaliation to a previous similar action to tax Chinese imports by the Trump administration. A January 1, 2019 threatened 25% tariff increase by the both US and China has now been deferred for 90 days. China buys almost $1 billion of US hardwood lumber products annually, and these tariffs will deeply impact those in Pennsylvania who grow, harvest, and process hardwood into the hardwood products that we ship to China. Now is the time to let your elected Pennsylvania representative and our two Pennsylvania US Senators know how this tariff action will negatively impact you as a grower, harvester, or manufacturer of Pennsylvania hardwood.

I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Pennsylvania Forestry Association’s Conservation Banquet on Saturday, March 2 at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Richard Lewis

#ForestProud #ResourceFirst

[email protected]

At this year's October joint PFA/PFPA Log A Load for Kids Sporting Clay Shoot, $1,000 was raised to support Children's Hospitals of Pennsylvania. This was combined with other campaign efforts by Pennsylvania Forest Products Association in the Commonwealth for a grand total donation of $7,384.90 ! Stay tuned for information on next year's Log A Load for Kids Pheasant Shoot in March and Sporting Clay Shoot this in September.

You are invited to attend the Pennsylvania Tree Farm Committee Meeting.

Date: Thursday, December 13, 2018

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Central Pennsylvania Visitors Bureau

                 800 East Park Avenue

                 State College, PA 16803

PATFC is continuing to complete the targeted re-inspections for 2018. Your commitment to this challenging and successful work keeps Tree Farm moving successfully into 2019. Reminder: Re-inspections are required every 5 years to maintain certification.

By the Numbers: 2018 Pennsylvania Tree Farm Acreage Profile

 

                                               # of TFs             Acres

10 - 50 Acres          116                      3746

51 - 100 Acres                        94                       6986

101 - 500 Acres                    128                     27125

501 and Greater                   35                      65644

                                               373                   103501

In November Pennsylvania Tree Farm Committee members, Maureen and John Burnham, were invited guests and speakers at the 2018 Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Annual Meeting held at beautiful Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA.

Each year the State Women’s Leadership Committee selects a Farmtastic Book of the Year. This year The Tree Farmer written by Chuck Leavell (keyboarder for the Rolling Stones and a Tree Farmer) and Nicholas Cravotta was highlighted. We were honored to be the first Tree Farmers to speak at the opening luncheon. Delicious, we will add…Pot Roast and roasted hearty vegetables. Just perfect for a snowy day in a lovely venue with incredibly warm and delightful people.

The Pennsylvania Tree Farmer message was delivered to a crowd of 200 plus. What a great opportunity to share the day with fellow Pennsylvania farmers. Various printed brochures and handouts from Tree Farm and Pennsylvania Forestry Association were available. After our presentation and discussion, a basket of Pennsylvania Tree Farm items was given to one happy and lucky winner.

If your inspector credentials are going to expire soon (or have expired but you've taken the 2015-2020 Standards training), you may renew them for until 2020 by taking the AFF Standards Online Refresher.

There are 4 required training modules and quizzes to bring you up to speed with the 2015-2020 Standards of Sustainability. A special note if you have already taken the online refresher: You need to reset your training, prior to retaking it, in order for the latest training to be recorded. Instructions for doing this can be found on the training page. 

Save the date March 2, 2018 for the 2018 Annual Conservation Banquet which raises funds for forestry education in Pennsylvania. You won't want to miss this chance at $10,000! We'll also be auctioning off a one-of-a kind refurbished riffle, original artwork, and unique dining events!

Tickets will be available in January with further details in the Winter edition of Pennsylvania Forests!

Harrisburg, PA – Today the Wolf Administration encouraged the public to vote online for the 2019 Pennsylvania River of the Year, choosing from among four waterways nominated across the state.

“Pennsylvania is filled with countless waterway treasures,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “I encourage everyone to vote on their favorite river as this annual contest enters its ninth year.”

Waterways nominated for 2019 are the Clarion River, Conodoguinet Creek, Delaware River, and Lackawanna River.

“This annual undertaking is much more than a public vote gauging popularity of a Pennsylvania waterway,” said Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “Regardless of outcome, the competition builds community support around our rivers and streams, putting them in the public limelight. All have unique attributes; offer incredible recreational opportunities; and offer significant boosts to local economies.”

Nominations consider each waterway’s conservation needs and successes, as well as celebration plans if the nominee becomes 2019 River of the Year. In cooperation with DCNR, selection of public voting choices is overseen by the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR), an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

The public can vote for a favorite state waterway beginning today through 5:00 P.M. on Friday, January 4, 2019. The website www.pariveroftheyear.org enables voting and offers details on nominated waterways and the River of the Year program.

Presented since 1983, this year’s 2018 winner was Loyalsock Creek.

“We are excited to kick-off, for the ninth year, the public on-line voting process for Pennsylvania River of the Year,” POWR Director Janet Sweeney said. “The River of the Year program is a great way for us to highlight the opportunities and challenges facing the state’s waterways.”

After a waterway receives the annual honor, local groups put in place a year-round slate of activities and events to celebrate the river, including a paddling trip, or sojourn. The organization nominating the winning river will receive a $10,000 leadership grant from DCNR to help fund River of the Year activities.

POWR and DCNR also work with local organizations to create a free, commemorative poster celebrating the River of the Year.

The River of the Year sojourn is among many paddling trips supported each year by DCNR and POWR. An independent program, the Pennsylvania Sojourn Program, is a unique series of a dozen such trips on the state’s rivers. These water-based journeys for canoeists, kayakers and others raise awareness of the environmental, recreational, tourism and heritage values of rivers. For more information about the sojourns, visit the Pa. Organization for Watersheds and Rivers website.

To learn more about DCNR’s Rivers Program, visit the DCNR website (go to “Conservation” and click on “Water”).

For details on the River of the Year program, visit the Pa. River of the Year website.

Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources (DCNR) Assistant State Forester Matt Keefer was recently honored by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the U.S. Forest Service as the “Forest Champion with the Greatest on the Ground Impact”. Matt developed a Riparian Buffer Advisory Committee at DCNR to provide a forum for restoration professionals to network and share outreach and implementation of best watershed practices. 

Congratulations, Matt!

By: Emma Dieter

As published by Onward State

When most of us come to college, our first instinct is to join a few clubs and make some friends. Some of us move toward Greek life, others get involved in THON, and others still choose to spend our free time in more unconventional ways, like throwing logs and climbing trees.

That’s what members of the Penn State Woodsmen team have decided to do. The team, a registered student organization on campus, is made up of 14 members. And while they all come from a variety of backgrounds and majors, they all have one thing in common: They like working with their hands and getting dirty.

The history of the team dates back to when the first Penn State Woodsmen team developed in the 1970s. To date, not much is known about those first few formative years, because the team disbanded due to lack of involvement in the mid-1980s. While those original founding teams set the groundwork for today’s Penn State Woodsmen team, the group would, sadly, not be seen again until nearly 20 years later.

Program advisor Mike Powell finally re-founded the team in 2003 with the encouragement of a few timber sports enthusiasts who wanted to start a Woodsmen team of their own.

“It was a shame [they disbanded] because they were a pretty good team before and we started off with absolutely nothing. Zilch,” Powell said. “We had to borrow equipment for our first competition.”

Powell has coached the team and organized various competitions for them to participate throughout the past 15 years. Members travel wherever a van and their monetary allowance will allow, whether that’s to some small town in northern Pennsylvania or to Toronto, Canada.

Since they’re only a club and not an official team, the Woodsmen receive very little outside funding. Some of the money they use to buy their equipment comes from UPAC funding, but the rest comes from their own fundraising efforts.

Their main way of fundraising revolves around making use of a skill they all already have: cutting wood. Any spare wood they have gets cut up and sold as firewood to people in and around State College. It helps them pay for hundreds to thousands of dollars in equipment each year.

“It’s not a cheap hobby and we get a little bit here,” Powell said. “We do what we can to get funding.”

The team usually participates in at least one competition every semester. Sometimes members miss out on competitions they don’t hear about until too late because they’re required to register events in advance with the university.

Competitions are split into three main categories: men, women, and Jack & Jill (read: co-ed). After deciding which categories to compete in, teams are created, made up of six competitors and usually one or two substitutes in case someone can’t compete.

Every event the teams compete in is split up into categories. There are singles, doubles, and team events that everyone must compete in. Usually each member will compete in one singles, one doubles, and four to six team events.

There are well over a dozen events for those participating to compete in. They have everything from fire building, which involves starting a fire and making a tin of water boil over it, to axe throwing, which is a lot like darts, except much more dangerous since you use a double-bladed axe.

Despite the dangerous conditions, the Woodsmen team takes precautions to ensure that no one is injured during their practices. Those who are new to the team wear tin or chainmail to protect them from accidentally chopping a hole through their leg. They also always have someone at practices who’s first aid and CPR certified.

“We’ve had the occasional small injury, but that hasn’t happened in a long time and we’re hoping to keep it that way,” co-captain Ian Hemann said. “We try to be real careful.”

For Hemann, the best part about being on the team is the sense of community it provides. He loves the feeling of being surrounded by people who share the same passions and values as him.

“I grew up making firewood and stuff like that, and not a whole lot of people can say that,” Hemann said. “So people who like to come out, do the hard work, aren’t afraid, and want to come and pull together as a team, that’s what we’re about.”

For those who are thinking that competing in all of these outdoor activities might be more of a “guy” thing, you’d be sorely mistaken.

Club Vice President Maddie Bentz has been competing since she was in high school. Bentz comes from New Hampshire — a state where Woodsmen teams are fairly common. She decided to try out the club one day on a whim in high school and has been hooked ever since.

For Bentz, it’s one of the most rewarding things she’s ever been a part of. It helps fulfill a part of her explorative side that would otherwise lie dormant.

“One of the biggest confidence boosts for me is when I do better than some of these big guys who are twice the size of me,” Bentz said. “It’s super empowering. It just makes me feel great.”

While the Woodsmen team may be one of the more unconventional clubs Penn State has to offer, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s absolutely one of the most spirited. Its members are passionate about what they do — passionate enough to put in several hours of work a week to develop their skills. They like what they do and they know how to do it.

“I like being with people who are interested in the same things that I am,” Hemann said. “I know that sounds generic, but it can be hard to find.”

MIke Powell serves on the Pennsylvania Forestry Association Board of Directors and is the Chair of the Memorial Forestry Education Committee.

Out of necessity, forest landowners and resource managers are increasingly turning to herbicides to manage undesirable vegetation. A number of factors are increasing the need for vegetation management including; vegetation interfering with forest regeneration, poorly planned and executed timber harvesting practices, a profusion of invasive plant species, and over-browsing by deer shifting species composition.

The Herbicides and Forest Vegetation Management Webinar Series will teach participants how to use herbicides safely and effectively to manage problem vegetation through a series of three one hour “live” online lectures that can be viewed from the convenience of your home or work computer. Sessions run for three weeks on Wednesdays, January 2, 9, and 16, 2019 from 2:00-3:00 PM. All lectures will be recorded and can be viewed later if “live” sessions are missed. The series is brought to you by Penn State Extension and Arborchem Products.

These live online sessions will examine the use of herbicides to manage forest vegetation and provide information to address some misconceptions concerning herbicide use in forests. Forestry labeled herbicides are effective and environmentally sound; however, their use remains controversial.

Topics covered include:

·        Personal and environmental safety of forestry herbicides

·        Herbicide application equipment and techniques

·        Managing competing and invasive plants in forests and fields

Forestry labeled herbicides are a low risk, economical, and effective means of controlling undesirable vegetation in forests. They can be used for achieving many objectives. Listen in on the live sessions and learn from the experts. Pesticide recertification credits will be available for all sessions.

For more information and to register go to: https://extension.psu.edu/introduction-to-herbicides-and-forest-vegetation-management-webinar-series or call 1-877-345-0691. Registration deadline is Friday, December 28, 2018.

Certified Tree Farmers are eligible for a full reimbursement to take this course. If you are interested, contact the PA Forestry Association office today at (800) 835-8065 or [email protected].

What: International Mass Timber Conference

When: March 19-21, 2019

Where: Oregon Convention Center

777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd

Portland, Oregon 97232

Information: www.masstimberconference.com

(Missoula, MT, October 1, 2018) - The 4th Annual International Mass Timber Conference will take place March 19-21, 2019 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland Oregon. The largest gathering of industry professionals of its kind, IMTC is the premier source for the latest news and innovative thinking on mass timber manufacturing and residential and commercial construction. IMTC 2018 set records for attendance, exhibitors and sponsors as the development and use of mass timber products continues to grow.

The International Mass Timber Conference is the largest gathering of cross-laminated timber and other mass timber experts in the world, with a special focus on manufacturing and mid- to high-rise construction. Over 1,200 experts from 22 countries attended in 2018. IMTC 2019 will feature over 70 industry speakers, plus over 70 exhibitors, and attendance from around the world representing timber, lumber, construction and designer/architect professionals exploring the latest innovations in cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber, glulam beams and panels, mass plywood panels, dowel-laminated timber, and laminated veneer lumber. The conference will also feature two separate mass timber building tours of local projects.  

IMTC is produced by Forest Business Network in cooperation with the wood design experts at WoodWorks-Wood Products Council. The conference is supported by Premier Sponsors including Hexion, Swinerton Builders, Katerra, and Kallesoe along with major sponsors D.R. Johnson Wood Innovations, Freres Lumber Co. MPP, Sansin, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Sterling, and Oregon Forest Resources Institute.

About Forest Business Network:

FBN is a top-tier consultancy, event marketing, and news and information source in the forest products sector. Its weekly email newsletter is a go-to news resource for global industry professionals. FBN’s president and CEO, Craig Rawlings, is a nationally recognized expert in under-utilized timber and biomass.

About WoodWorks-Wood Products Council:

WoodWorks (www.woodworks.org) provides free one-on-one project assistance as well as education and resources related to the code-compliant design of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings. WoodWorks technical experts offer support from design through construction on a wide range of building types, including mid-rise/multi-residential, educational, commercial, corporate, institutional and public.

12-09-2018 Can California learn to love its fires?

In 1982, my mother and I watched a wind-driven wall of flames descend a Malibu hillside toward our rented bungalow. Lucky for us, firefighters stopped the flames at the far edge of the asphalt road, just yards away. I’ve since seen that same hillside burn four times. My childhood home... -  Los Angeles Times

12-07-2018 Bear surge: Once rare, region’s black bear population is growing and spreading

Pennsylvania’s statewide bear hunting season opens tomorrow and will continue (Sunday excepted) through Wednesday, Nov. 21. We are fortunate here to share the Laurel Highlands with a growing population of black bears. That couldn’t always be said. Bears were exterminated from this... -  Waynesburg Greene County Messenger

12-03-2018 Northern birds rarely seen in Pennsylvania are showing up here

Evening grosbeaks – northern finches that move south only when forest crops fail in Ontario and northeastern Canada – are being spotted throughout Pennsylvania, from north of Pittsburgh to Mifflintown to southeastern Pennsylvania. It’s an irruption year for winter finches in eastern Canada, according... -  Penn Live, Patriot-News

12-02-2018 Trump Signs New Trade Deal With Canada and Mexico After Bitter Negotiations

President Trump and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts sought to put the acrimony of the past two years behind them on Friday as they signed a new trade agreement governing hundreds of billions of dollars in commerce that underpins their mutually dependent economies.... -  New York Times

11-29-2018 Lawmakers reach tentative farm bill deal after months-long impasse

Key lawmakers said Wednesday they have reached a tentative deal on a massive farm bill, breaking a months-long impasse over legislation that doles out more than $400 billion in federal funds for farm subsidies, food stamps and conservation efforts. Lawmakers have been at odds over a House GOP proposal to boost work... -  Washington Post

11-27-2018 Pennsylvania hunters kill more than 2,400 bears this year

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says preliminary figures indicate hunters killed more than 2,400 bears across the state this year... -  AP